Nouvel Catholic Central High School is named in the honor and spirit of Jesuit Missionary Henri Nouvel. Father Nouvel was the first white man to discover central Michigan. He celebrated the first Mass in the state’s Lower Peninsula on the banks of the Saginaw River at (what is now) Ojibway Island. He was called by the Lord to proclaim the good news of Christ and share new life with Native Americans who were the original citizens of our community.

While there are many discrepancies about his life, there is documentation about his great devotion to Jesus Christ and our Blessed Mother Mary. He also called upon St. Francis Xavier and St. Ignatius to support his ministry. In correspondence to his superior he described three "cures" of children and a woman on his journey to the Saginaw Valley "…in which Our Lord showed how pleased he was at our addressing ourselves to the Blessed Virgin and to saints to obtain what we asked from Him."

Nouvel was born between 1621 and 1624 in southern France. He entered the priesthood in Toulouse in 1648 and arrived in New France (Canada) in 1662 where he spent the first year at Quebec studying the "Amerindian" languages. In the winter of 1663 Nouvel embarked on his first voyage around the St. Lawrence and adjacent rivers and lakes. This trip, which lasted seven months, was a real achievement, especially considering Nouvel was ill prepared to face variations of temperatures ranging from the extreme cold of winter to the extreme heat of summer. Before coming back he gathered information about the tribes farther north who would one day "have to be evangelized." He was most grateful to his superior for having been chosen for this mission: "It seems to me that I have never known God except in the dense forests of Canada, where all the eternal truths that I have mediated upon elsewhere appeared to me with extraordinary clarity."

In 1671 he became Superior of the Ottawa Missions and was first stationed at Sault Ste. Marie and later at Fort Michilimakinac in St. Ignace. During this time he had under his direction a team of remarkable missionaries including Fathers Jacques Marquette, Claude Allouez, Claude Dablon, and Etienne de Carheil. According to some accounts, Nouvel received the remains of Father Marquette in 1677 at the St. Ignace Mission. Supposedly, Marquette had been buried two years earlier at his place of death near Ludington while on an expedition.

Even as a superior he volunteered to follow the American Indians on their search for a winter camp with more moderate temperatures. It was the journey in 1675 that brought Nouvel south to the Saginaw Valley where on December 3^rd, the feast of St. Francis Xavier, Nouvel celebrated the first Mass in our area. Today there is a monument on Ojibway Island, dedicated by the Diocesan Catholic Council of Women, to honor Nouvel and the Catholic faith in our community.

Evidence is scare about Nouvel’s death between 1701 and 1704, and it is suggested he may have died in a mission in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In his unwavering dedication to Christ, he was blessed with many gifts of the spirit. He had a great capacity for hope, courage, and kindness. He fostered peace and forgiveness, even while enduring personal hardship and disappointment. Nouvel deeply loved and respected the Native American people, and especially enjoyed participating in the winter hunting parties. He felt God’s presence in the awesome beauty of nature. A missionary to the end, Nouvel wrote, "O missionary vocation, how precious you are to these dear missions! How many treasures you conceal amidst your pains and fatigues!"